Fender Blues Junior... worth it??

[Bryan]

I'm looking for something to give me a good Fender clean sound at a moderate to low volume. My Deluxe Reverb did a nice job but I sold it. Now I really miss the Fender clean.

I tried a Junior Pro at my LMS but it was too "gainy" for me. It wanted to break up at almost any volume. Which is fine, since that's what it is made to do. I ,however, don't want that. I want a good amp for Fender cleans. The salesman recommended a Blues junior but they didn't have any in stock. Our local paper has one for a really cheap price but I want some opinions before I go any further.

So whaddayagot?

[hippietim]

The Blues Jr. is cool but not as nice sounding as the Pro Jr. IMO. I've owned a couple of each. The problem with a stock Pro Jr. is the shitty Eminence speaker - a nice Weber or a Celestion Vintage 10 is really great in those. Same is true for the Blues Jr. - the stock speaker is crap.

The Blues Jr. doesn't get a loud clean tone at all. At bedroom levels it's fine but if you are playing with a drummer the Pro Jr. will be cleaner (with a good speaker).

The circuit in the Pro Junior is basically one of the old late 40's Tweed circuits (I forget which now). In those days, they weren't trying to get overdrive - that's just how it worked out. The Pro Jr. is very responsive to you backing off your guitar volume to clean up the tone as well.

I just wish Fender would make the Pro Junior in a head.

[Bryan]

Let me explain my setup and maybe you can help me a little more. This is my bedroom setup. I have my Marshall combo miked in a closet on a shelf. The clean amp will also be miked and run through a small board. That signal is then mixed and sent to the powered monitor in the room, which is where I hear all the sound. So the volume of the amp is not important, just the tone I get out of it, since it will be miked and run through the powered monitor.

[hippietim]

Fender Twin

[hippietim]

Seriously, none of the Fender's sound good even clean until you get the tubes working a bit. A Deluxe doesn't sound good until you get at least to 3 or 4. A Twin hits it's stride around 6 or so.

[Bryan]

Fender Twin

Yeah I'd love that!! Unfortunately it's way too big and powerful for what I need.

[El_Kabong]

Change the stock, grainy sounding 12AX7A for a low gain triode.

[Bryan]

so back to my original question.

Blues Junior or Pro Junior.

Which one will give me a good Fender clean tone at a low volume? Or is there another amp I should look at?

[yard dawg]

Get the blues JR and have it modded to your tastes. I chose the Carvin vintage 16 over the blues JR... I found a modded one for $300 thats why.

[hippietim]

Personally, I'll take a Pro Jr. over the Blues Jr. any day.

[jtr]

Princeton reverb or another Deluxe. I prefer Pro Jr to the Blues Jr.

[El_Kabong]

The Pro Jr. is a far superior am to the blues Jr. It sounds great with the reissue Jensen 10" when the 12" PQR sounds like garbage. The Pro Jr. starts to break up around 11:00 with an aftermarket pre-amp tube in position 1. At that volume, it is too loud for apartment/ condo dwellers and is still clean. I would have kept mine, (tweed), if I didn't buy a Victoria.

[jwoods986]

Hey Bryan, I think I'm looking for the same thing - good clean at house volume and use a pedal to push it. I've got a TS9DX on the way; once I have it, I want to go try out the Blues Jr. and Pro Jr. I also just saw this on the bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Mesa-Boogie...QQcmdZViewItem
Does anyone have experience with one of these? Looks like it might an alternative to a Fender.

[Rupe]

Although those amps sound great, I don't think either of them get that definitive Fender clean sound with their EL-84 tubes. If I were looking for a bedroom clean amp, I'd look for a silverface Princeton or Champ...these will get you the most bang for the buck.